Improving Fire Department Productivity: Merging Fire and Emergency Medical Units in New Haven

In September 1991, the New Haven Fire Department implemented an innovative reorganization plan having dual-trained fire medics responding to medical emergencies or fire incidents. The plan was the culmination of a 10-month problem-solving process that required redefining the original problem by shifting attention from closing fire stations to reorganizing the deployment of fire department services. The work made use of both a new spatial queuing model and the existing firehouse siting model, and required timely analysis under constraints of the budgetary process. In a matter of weeks and at times, days, we had to win the approval of the chief administrative officer, the board of finance, and the board of aldermen. The plan increased productivity by both reducing cost and improving public safety. Yearly savings are $1.4 million and amount to nearly 10 percent of the fire suppression budget, while small reductions in fire protection are more than offset by substantial improvements in emergency medical response time.